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Sorry our fault, we were waiting for Google to update something and I had an email from them this morning - I didn't realise by default they give you 'auto ads' all over the bloody place. We're configuring them to be as they were before at the moment.

A small but important step today. So I don't lose the interesting figuring of the top with the bits you end up cutting away, I took off 15mm from the width so that the two 'eyes' weren't off the edge of the waist. Having done so, I had to re-jointer the mating faces. For this I used the offset fence technique again on the router table. It needs careful set up but works a treat: Then the two halves were glued and clamped: And we had a piece of joined top wood: Seen through a paper template and dampened a bit, this will be the broad look. Once it's been sanded and finished, it's going to look v good :

So you've seen my band!

Phew! I thought I was going to have to buy new lingerie, send money to Somalia, buy viagra, a new travel iron and subscribe to a wine distribution service just to read what @Al Krow had written about the Helix Stomp.

I like 'em. I've already bagged myself a new boiler, a chainsaw, an old bike from a Police auction and a hot Polish date! What's not to like? 🤣😂

QUOTE: Although @Len_derby 's bass contained no CITES Appendix timbers, there seems to be confusion in some US and UK customs operations (and some associated scare stories) to make me believe that I need to be particularly careful that this does NOT contain any such woods and that I can prove that in a way that would satisfy a well-meaning but ill-informed customs official who might think, "Bass Guitar - impound" or even worse - and just my paranoia because I'm sure this would never happen - one who might think, "Hmmm - bass guitar, impound ...and keep" Andy, I know from my Gillett experiences what a minefield this CITES business is. Doing the necessary paperwork for Japan recently was a nightmare and I was having sleepless nights until the importer confirmed the consignment had successfully cleared through customs. So, here's an interesting development I was going to PM you about but thought I'd add to this topic instead as it may be of general Basschat interest. A Swiss guy visited our stand at Olympia to tell us about a system he's developing that would enable us to build ID data in to our instruments. The data lives on a transducer that's embedded during construction and can then be scanned with a smart-phone. His idea was that this could confirm serial number, model name, give detailed info on construction materials and would also be helpful in case of theft. He didn't know about CITES and when I explained to him the potential for adding traceability info he got really excited. We're excited too as this would be a great 'fit' with our Contour range. We're expecting a trial system some time soon.

/\ This. Unless its an instrumental act the singer is key. I have seen some stunning pub bands, and some mediocre pro touring acts, so doing it simply for the love of music does not mean the musicians will not be high quality. I go to see a band and be entertained and the singer front person is a huge part of that, If they cant put the melody and lyrics over then what the rest of the band is doing is largely wasted. I am a bassist and a drummer but I never go to check out said musicians, I go to see the band.

I'm based in West Yorkshire (used to live in London more than half a lifetime ago)! Just got back from my pub gig, one that would confirm the worst fears of all the doomsayers on here i.e.only about 15 people there! Next gig is at a venue that always gets packed, so swings and roundabouts The thing is that I know plenty of decent drummers and several great guitar players, but it is very difficult to find a lead vocalist who has the pipes, can front a band and isn't completely mad. As you say, the singer is the focal point - it doesn't matter how good a band is, if the singer isn't up to scratch you are always going to struggle...!

Real album covers from a gentler time in our musical history. Now, I can understand the problem simply being a chronological one in the case of the quartet but, WTF was Dickey-boy thinking when he gave the green light on that one?

This made me laugh http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ouOKCgdMz4

So, thanks to @andy67 for selling the Little Bastard to me, and thanks to @eude for bringing it all the way daan Saaf from Edinburgh. A nice little collection of Essex’s finest; old school valve, slightly newer old school class AB and modern class D. What more could a boy want?

I think 'Dickey-Boy' knew exactly what he was doing with the album title judging by his picture. Touch of the Pat Mustard's about him.

I forget occasionally just how uniquely good 10cc were, but I’m rewatching the BBC4 documentary just to remind myself...

If you need a second opinion, give me a call.

"Locking with the drummer" is about time and timing, but there's a lot more to it than that, and in order to be successful he has to "lock" with you as well. It's about the two of you working as one, being on the same wavelength, feeling the groove and dynamics of your combined playing (not the dynamics of the arrangement). It's about complimenting each other, lifting the song and giving it extra life.

To me it means something a bit different. You can play in time and it be correct, but lifeless. Making a conscious effect to be as tight as possible with the drummer, creating as many Dynamics as possible, not necessarily as per record, is where it's at for me.

I'd thought for years this meant lengthy after hours boozing sessions was the key to a better sounding band

In our group the singer / sax is definitely the showman, he interacts with the audience, dances round, goes into the audience when saxing to interact. And he gets the most attention as he should, he loves it and he does it well. He is an OK singer, but that is all he needs to be - I would rather the showman who can sing than a fantastic singer that can't show. So in our group, me and him are at the front as I also do vocals (although I don't move round too much), the guitarist doesn't generally look up. I often get people talking to me after the show, most people know I play the bass

They are targeted ads - they know we are all impressed by big size and volume but little actual content 🤣

I took delivery of the bass on Friday evening when @Grangur kindly delivered it to me at a gig. I didn't play it there and then, as I thought it preferable to familiarise myself with the controls and switching possibilities at home. Others before me have already described the timber, hardware and components used, so there's no need for me to do the same. What I will say, is that the quality of workmanship, timber and hardware is all very good. It is not without faults however, but again this has been detailed by Rich @Grangur What I will say from the off, is that this style of instrument, although very attractive, is not one that I would go for, that's not a criticism of the build but just my preference. I suppose it's about my more conservative taste in basses, to me a more standard P or J bass just looks and feels right in a function/pub covers band, which is the type of gigging that I'm involved in. Having said that I took it along to last night's gig, with a view to just playing a couple of numbers, only to find myself really enjoying playing, what is for me a very different style of instrument and keeping it strapped on for the entire first set. Importantly for me, it was very shoulder friendly and balanced very nicely on my strap. Initially I felt a bit disconcerted by the thickness of the neck up in the first position. Actually I don't think I've encountered a bass with such a thick neck profile but once I forgot about that and just got on with playing, it wasn't a problem, nor was the radius which is flatter than my usual preference. Sound wise it was impressive, although I have to confess that I didn't really experiment much with the settings, there wasn't time, we didn't even get a sound check. To me, that makes it all the more impressive really. For the record, I think I had both pick ups on and with the middle switch in the down position (can't recall what that actually does), volume control up full and the tone rolled slightly off. The only adjustment that I made was with the tone control, this is something I always do on my P basses, to suit certain tunes. Anyway, it was punchy, articulate and had a pleasing growl going on. It could certainly be heard, loud and clear over an enthusiastic drummer and two guitars. Although I was happy with the sound, I have to say that I'm not convinced by the controls and think that the switching options are somewhat confusing. Having said that though, as mentioned earlier, I normally play basses with just two knobs, so it could well be down to my short comings in understanding the relationship between the pickups and the various options available. My preference would be for a simpler form of rotary blend/volume control for the pick ups, along with a tone control for each. Have to admire Marco for his building skills and then sending his creation out to be critiqued by us lot. This bass, with a few tweaks, a little attention to the frets and nut could be a real winner. I've enjoyed my couple of days with it and thank Marco for the opportunity to try something a little different.

EQ pedal in the fx loop.

+1 ^^ 100% The guitarist in our more modern covers bands is a complete non-showman, to the extent that the vocalist who plays acoustic guitar to a basic level (and is nowhere near as good as the lead guitarist) got asked by one of the audience if he (and not the lead guitarist!) would be able to give lessons to their kid! 😂 The singers in that band have commented what a difference it's made to the vibe when I've come out from behind and supported them from the front, because they're not getting that from the guitarist. And a lot of our sets have some great bass-heavy numbers. When we're playing any Chilli Peppers material, for example, you can see the punters gaze wandering to the bass as well as the vocals. There is no reason a bassist can't have 'presence' in a band which can, if done well, add to the whole.

But is that because it is easy for the bass player, not generally being a soloist (unless you are Billy Sheehan), to be relegated to the shadows at the back of the stage? It is more difficult for a lead guitarist to hide at the back, even in the unlikely event that they wanted to. But it doesn’t necessarily have to be this way – compare John McVie and (to take an extreme example) Nikki Sixx?? I have always got recognition from the audience. At your school event, kids would have been coming to me – not because I’m a superior player by any means, but because I am more of a performer. A few of us went to see the Devil’s Slingshot a few years ago (rock fusion trio featuring Tony Macalpine, Virgil Donati and the aforementioned Billy Sheehan). This was the first time that my wife had seen Sheehan live and she was laughing as she said she could see where I had stolen my act from – not the bass playing (unfortunately) but the stage moves…!

So went home and sacked the singer then?

Last night we were a lead vocalist down at short notice. East London pub audience for most of whom 50s and 60s is not their favourite (or even second or third choice) genre. Potential to be a disaster. The band rose to the challenge and were clearly all determined to give the audience a great night out. Including the bass player who got his Smooth-hound out so he could party with the rest of the band and donned a pair of shades to look like something from the ancient world; the guitarist playing the Johnny B Goode solo behind his head; the lead vocals having amazing energy and interacting with the audience. Ended up as one of our best nights with that band, ever! Almost the whole audience (80+) up and dancing by the end of the night. Baying for encores. Publican insisted on paying the full amount although I'd told him we'd take less 'cos we were doing a slightly shorter set (15 mins less than the usual 2 hours) given we were down to one lead vocals and some of our prepared material just wasn't going to work. And yes folk came up at the end and wanted to thank us for a great evening. We left on a high. So I'm happy to say it doesn't have to be anything like the above! A really good band will be noticed and we, as bass players, have a big part to play in that. I've realised that, for me, there's nothing like a great night with my band playing to an audience that's really enjoying themselves. It's when I feel most alive.

It is now in primer! Looks nice in white but will be awesome in yellow ( I hope!)

Because the Amstrad Emailer has a flat response. The perfect platform for Helix’s amp/cab sims IMO...

As supplier of said CTM15 I can confidently attest to the fact that it isn't a patch on the LB30... You can thank me for the GAS later!

TBH it’s been over three years since I last had one of the all valve heads so anything I think I can hear is probably psychosomatic. I can say it’s loud and warm and gooey and phat though. Does that help? 😂

Fairly average gig last night, had some friends in the audience who think we are great, but I know we've played better nights. My tolerance for self-important guitarists is getting less and less all the time. Last night, we had a lead guitarist who a few minutes before start time found he hadn't got a strap (cue frantic search for a spare strap among our gear) then his amp & cab weren't plugged in, then his lead was too short... OK, we're all looking at you, you got the attention you're after - can we play now, please? Funny thing was that the self same guitarist played really well after that. I just don't think that that level of faffing about is worth suffering for a 40 quid gig.

Yes, other than the knob thing, I didn't detect any differences in them tonally.

I’d have to check the boobs first.

Let’s hope you don’t find out the hard way during your date!

Viagra for you too huh? 😂

Giggity gigs?

I watched it as well - and agreed, Jon Cleary and band were great. As were Muse - in fact the whole programme was good. And all with audible bass. Great stuff.

I think it’s all about that contrast between the body and neck

Not a worry, you can’t see the gold for the constant pea-soup fog you always seem to see on old movies! A lot of the main traditional sites are in a very small area around Westminster. Parliament, Big Ben (tho it’s covered with scaffolding at the mo), Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Trafalgar Square, St James Park... My top tip is go see the changing of the guard at Horseguards Parade (opposite end of St James Park from Buckingham Palace, 11 am every morning and you get to stand really close to the horses - literally only 20 feet. At Buck House they’re 100 yards away at best. National Gallery On Trafalgar Sq is free and lovely to wander round. So many iconic paintings. And Windsor is lovely - just a 40 min train ride from Waterloo Station. The castle is amazing, as is Eton College and wandering by the Thames.

The main thing is to enjoy it and not to worry too much at this stage. There no single "right" way to play, just whatever is comfortable

Interestingly, my Korg TM-60 tuner had absolutely no problem picking up the E string...must be a problem with my phone since neither app I tried was able to pick it up. I tried several different areas of thumb placement today as I practiced with my bass for about 75 minutes. I think if my split neck pick ups were reversed, the top one to the right of the bottom one (if looking down on the bass while playing), then I could anchor my thumb there. Resting my thumb on the E string is probably what is going to work best for me right now because I like plucking the strings between the neck and bridge pick up for the simple fact that I don't have to worry about hitting the pickups while plucking....and my arm/hand feel comfortable at that position. Anchoring my thumb on the front split pickup seems to add some stress to my hand that doesn't need to be there. But resting it on the string above the string I'm trying to play (ie: resting it on the A string when plucking the D string, resting it on the D string when plucking the G string, resting it on the E string when plucking the A string, and resting basically in the air when playing the E string) felt really comfortable as well. Not sure how that will work when I start playing faster but for right now it felt pretty comfy. I found out what you mean about damping the strings I'm not playing. At the end of my practice I looked for a super easy song intro for bass and stumbled upon Eye of the Tiger by Survivor. I only learned the first 10 notes but at times I could hear the G string "rattling" through my amp...and I was taking it slow in order to make sure I got the notes right and didn't accidentally hit any other strings. Definitely going to have to work on a technique for that! TripleB67

So what was this thread about ?

Just sold a Peavey millennium USA to Manos, great comms, prompt payment and he is a true gentleman... highly recommend.

Damn! I wondered who that bloke was that bought my old practice kit 😲

If people notice what I'm doing on my gig I've failed. My job is to provide a pillow for the band leader to lay on. I need to fill gaps he leaves, make him sound great and control the interaction the audience have with him. If they catch me doing it the curtain has been pulled back and that's no good.

Someone I knew was working with them, nothing sinister! Just didn't want blow what's left of my rock 'n' roll credentials.

Is this enough pickups and necks.